Boys Will Play, And So Will Girls: Signs Of Heat Exhaustion

As a coach and athlete for three-plus decades, I am very cognizant of the challenge of exercising in extreme weather, and nothing for New Englanders has been as extreme as the past three weeks.  Despite heat advisories, athletes will still "play" or train in the heat.  (I was called crazy by a neighbor just this morning for finishing up a bike ride at 11:00 a.m. and 90 degrees; he is right.)

Last year on one such day as we've been having, I felt the first signs of heat exhaustion.  The key when the signs are first displayed is to take control of the situation before getting to the danger zone of acting irrationally.  The following is something I posted on various Parish Hill Middle / High School (where I work as athletic director and boys soccer coach) Facebook group pages.

"Please be aware of the initial signs of heat exhaustion on these hot days: Feeling wobbly or dizzy, followed by chills. If these symptoms show themselves, stop the physical activity to calm the heart rate down and then get into some shade. Drink as much water as possible. If you have people with you, make sure they stay with you to help monitor the situation. If someone is home and can come pick you up, this is a good option.  Otherwise, get yourself home and into a cool shower as soon as possible. Heat exhaustion is controllable; heat stroke, which can develop from heat exhaustion, is dangerous and can even be fatal."

This post has is written by Peter Leeds, who also works as a real estate agent for CG Real Estate and as a referees assignor for Windham Soccer League.  Peter can be reached at peter@cgrealestate.net or 860-377-4433 or on Facebook at Not Just The Sports Guy.